Patron Olly’s Passion for Tennis

Our patron Olly’s passion for tennis is clear. You could say the sport is in his blood!

We caught up with him and his mum Sally Phillips recently to find out about his tennis highlights, and a very exciting new project that he is involved in.

 

Olly’s Passion for Tennis

Tennis has always been an important part of Olly’s family’s life, his mum and fellow patron Sally Phillips told us.

‘Olly started playing swing ball when we were camping at about 3/4. We didn’t expect him to be as good at it as he was.  Then he started doing tennis on a small court with a foam ball with his Grandpa on Sheen Common, then he worked his way through the different speed balls.

Olly’s cousins love tennis, his cousin Issy plays first pair for her university and his cousin Eloise used to play tennis competitively until she switched to cricket. He will always play tennis with them whenever it’s on offer. However, he only started doing coaching when we found out about the Fulham FC /LTA initiative. There is a group that meets to play together once a week.  Olly made good friends there and was sad when it stopped during the pandemic.  Thankfully, it’s started up again now.’

Grandpa Tim’s Tennis Career

‘Olly’s Grandpa Tim was a very good tennis player.  He played in three out of four of the Grand Slams and his best result was reaching the semi-finals of the US Open in the doubles. He also won lots of tournaments which were small then but are now massive like the Hong Kong Open, so he has his name on the cup along with Roger Federer. Grandpa went on to help run the Wimbledon Championships.  His bedroom walls are covered with equal numbers of photographs of family and famous tennis players and Olly is very proud of him.’

Olly said: ‘Grandpa’s done really well in his career and he always goes to Wimbledon, but now he comes with us to play ping pong.
It’s exceptional!’

Our patron added, ‘The first time Grandpa Tim was on TV was when he was playing in the US Open – he and his partner Ray Weedon weren’t expected to do well, but they were winning. So the cameras came to the court and started to film.  The first shot Grandpa was receiving serve and it came very hard and hit him in the privates.  Very embarrassing!’

 

Celebrity Players

Olly has met some famous tennis players.  He once went to Wimbledon the weekend before the tournament and saw Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal training. And he once met Roger Federer. His favourite tennis player is Roger Federer and he is sad he has retired.

Olly and Doug’s Tennis Tournament

When Olly joined the Brentford Penguins football team he met Doug who was training to be one of the coaches.  Doug’s Dad, Daniel is a trained tennis coach and he suggested that Doug and Olly started playing together. Daniel has been coaching Doug and Olly together at the Thistledown tennis club for about a year and thinks they are ready to learn about matches.  Their dream is to represent their country in doubles at the Special Olympics.  They are very happy that the DSA and Middlesex tennis are supporting them and excited that we can all have a fun day at the tennis club.

Olly, ‘We’ve been practising really hard and we’ve done really well’

Doug’s Dad Daniel is very cool and so he decided to set up a tournament Doug and Olly could be involved in. Daniel rocks.  So now everyone who plays tennis and has Down’s syndrome has a chance to meet up and experience a match. They can take part or watch. Find out more here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have Fun!

Tennis is a fantastic way to get active, keep moving, and make friends.
Many people who have Down’s syndrome enjoy the game just for fun, or more competitively.

A word of advice from Grandpa Tim, ‘Tennis is a wonderful healthy sport for all – and unlike the popular team sports, you don’t need 20 or more people to make up a match. So, just like my Grandson Olly, why not give tennis a try!’

You can visit our DSActive page to find out more about clubs and activities on offer near you.